Biography

Born ca 1613
Died January 10, 1670 or June 10, 1669
Immigrated between 1638 and 1641
Married 5 times, see the Family sub-topic
Owned: Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster County, Virginia

Uncertain Origin

John was born ca 1613, based on his own statement.[1] He was certainly born in England, but his parentage is uncertain.[2] He was probably the son of the Newgate vintner, John Carter and his second wife, Bridget Benion Carter, and if so, he was born at Newgate Christ Church, Middlesex, London, England.[3][1] Whoever his parents were, they were well connected with the Virginia Company, at least as business associates and possibly as family.[1]

Associations

Edward Carter (d. 1682), House of Burgesses and governor's Council, was certainly related, but the exact connection is unknown.[1]

Thomas Carter (1672-1733), also of Lancaster County, may have been a first cousin, as there is some evidence their fathers were brothers.[3]

Early Years and Immigration

As a young man, John probably made frequent voyages facilitating the tobacco trade between Virginia and London as a representative of the Virginia Company.[1] On August 10, 1635, John boarded the Safety at London and gave his age as "twenty-two."[1] Sometime between May 1638 and January 1641, he settled in Virginia.[2]

Family

John married five times. He may have married for the first time to Jane Glyn before settling in Virginia.

1) Jane Glyn, born in Fulham, Middlesex, England, died before 1655, a daughter of Morgan Glyn.[3]

2) Eleanor (Eltonhead) Brocas, married in 1655, daughter of Richard Eltonhead, widow and 3rd wife of William Brocas of the Virginia council.[1] She died soon after their marriage, and there were no known children.[3]

3) Anne Carter, married in 1656 on a trip to England,[1] daughter of "Mr. Cleve Carter."[3] She died soon after the marriage, and there were no known children.[1]

4) Sarah Ludlow, married in 1662, born 1635 and died before June 10, 1669, daughter of Gabriel Ludlow and Phillis Wakelyn, nephew of Cromwell's General Edmund Ludlow.[4] married by early 1660's.[1][3] Her son, Robert, was less than five years old when she died.

5) Elizabeth Shirley/Sherley, marriage agreement executed on October 24, 1668, a widow from Gloucester County, and according to Stephen Carter, this was not a happy marriage.[3] Son, Charles, removed to England as a young man and died there in 1690. (Is it possible that his mother joined him? Billups-130 13:22, 20 December 2014 (EST))

House of Burgess and Other Offices

John served as Lieutenant-colonel, Burgess, and Councillor.[4] He was first elected in 1642 as Burgess for Upper Norfolk County (in 1646 Nansemond).[5] He served again in 1649 as Burgess for Nansemond County, and in 1654, 1657/58, 1658/59, and 1659/60, as Burgess for Lancaster County.[5][6]

Corotoman

By the time of his election as Burgess in 1642, John had probably established residence in Virginia.[1] He first settled in Upper Norfolk County (Nasemond) and meanwhile he acquired land in Charles River County (to become Lancaster in 1751). In 1642, John received his first of several land grants along the north bank of the Rappahannock River.[1] In April of 1652, he applied for an extension by act of the Assembly on his land in Lancaster County.[2] It seems that soon thereafter he moved to this land and built Corotoman plantation which became the family home.[2] Corotoman Plantation was located overlooking the Rappahannock, flanked by Carter's Creek on the east and the Corrotoman River on the west.[7] In 1656, John was made Colonel of Lancaster County militia, and by 1666, both he and his son, John, were members of the vestry for the Lancaster County Christ Church.[3]

Christ Church

John also built the original Christ Church, said to be "the oldest religious edifice in Virginia," despite the fact that it was rebuilt in brick by his son, Robert.[8] The original, probably built from wood, was finished in July 1670, six months after John died.[9] John and four of his wives are buried there.

Slaves and Indentured Servants

At the time of his death, John left some thirty indentured servants and some forty African slaves.[1] This increasing reliance on the lifelong service of African slaves as opposed to the finite service of indentured Europeans typified the changing labor norms in Virginia.[1]

Death and Legacy

According to the Encyclopedia of Virginia, John died on January 10, 1670,[1] probably at Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster County, Virginia. He was buried inside the Christ Church, now rebuilt on the foundation of the original. A large etched tombstone, to the right-hand side of the chancel, covers John, his five wives, and some of their children. The epitaph reads:

Here lyeth buried ye body of John Carter, Esq., who died ye 10th of June, Anno Domini 1669; and also Jane, ye daughter of Mr. Morgan Glyn, and George her son, and Elenor Carter, and Ann, ye daughter of Mr. Cleave Carter, and Sarah, ye daughter of Mr. Gabriel Ludlow, and Sarah her daughter.[3]

Note: According to Edmund Berleley, Jr., he died in 1669.[2] Researcher, Stephen Carter states his death date was 10 June 1669, but apparently the source for this is the "LDS."[3]

John left the majority of his estate to his eldest son, Lt. Col. John Carter, as was the tradition, but he specifically left to second son Robert: one-third of his personal estate, 1,000 acres on a branch of the Corotoman River, one-sixth of his books, and "his mother's hoop ring & christall necklace."[2] After son John's death, the inheritance transferred to the younger son, Robert "King" Carter, who vastly increased the family's wealth.[2] Robert had been well prepared, as also dictated in his father John's will, he had been provided a tutor for his classical education, including Latin.[2]

↑ 6.06.1 He was elected as Governor's council in 1658, but returned as a Burgess in 1659.<ref></ref> Records are incomplete, but in 1663, he had been reelected and was again serving as Councillor.<ref></ref>
John served as Commander against the Rappahannock Indians in 1654; he was made Colonel of Lancaster County in 1656.<ref></ref> His troops are said to have "entirely exterminated the Rappahannock Indians.<ref>Armstrong, Zella and Janie Preston Collup French, [http://books.google.com/books?id=c1hlAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&ots=3UQ-m8Z6UP&focus=viewport&dq=Charles+Carter,+Esq.,+of+Shirley&output=html_text ''Notable Southern Families, Volume 2''] (pages 59-62) Chattanooga, TN: Lookout Publishing Company, 1922, google.com accessed December 20, 2014</li>
<li id="_note-wik">[[#_ref-wik_0|↑]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corotoman "Corotoman"], Web accessed August 1, 2014</li>
<li id="_note-Armstrong">[[#_ref-Armstrong_0|↑]] </li>
<li id="_note-NHL">[[#_ref-NHL_0|↑]] National Historic Landmarks Program, [http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=640&ResourceType=Building Christ Church (Lancaster County)] accessed December 20, 2014</li></ol></ref>

I have info that Anne Carter might be the daughter of Charles Carter of Cleve. I am sorting out info. There are several trees with various info but not any valid sources like birth cert. or babtistism papers. None of the trees are backed up by sources.

Removed the suffix, II, to avoid confusion, (as some genealogies call this I), and the WikiTree convention is to only use a suffix if it was used during the person's lifetime, and we can always replace it, if someone has primary evidence of its use. http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Name_Fields#Suffix

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